A study of the submicron indent-induced plastic deformation

A new method has been developed to achieve a better understanding of submicron indent-induced plastic deformation. This method combines numerical modeling and various experimental data and techniques. Three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics simulation and the finite element method (FEM) were used to model the experimental conditions associated with nanoindentation testing in fcc crystals. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of the indent-induced plastic volume and analysis of the experimental loading curve help in defining a complete set of dislocation nucleation rules, including the shape of the nucleated loops and the corresponding macroscopic loading. A validation of the model is performed through direct comparisons between a simulation and experiments for a nanoindentation test on a [001] copper single crystal up to 50 nm deep.